Data on the financial sector are collected by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) under:

i. theECCB Agreement Act, article 35, including the following paragraphs:

(1) Every financial institution shall furnish to the Bank at such time and in such manner as the Bank may prescribe, such information and data as the bank may require for the proper discharge of its functions and responsibilities and in order to verify compliance with directions issued under Articles (sic) 33 and 34 of this Agreement the Bank may require any person who is or has been made subject thereto to open his books for inspection

(2) Without limiting the generality of paragraph (1) of this Article every financial institution shall at the request of the Bank, in relation to that financial institution's operations in the territory of a participating Government, submit to the Bank in such form as the Bank may from time to time approve -(a) not later than fourteen days after the last day of the month to which it relates, a monthly statement of assets and liabilities at the end of each month;(b) not later than fourteen days after the end of the quarter to which it relates, a quarterly return providing an analysis of customer's liabilities to the financial institution in respect of loans, advances and other assets of the financial institution at the end of each quarter; and,(c) within such period as the Bank may determine such other returns as the Bank may require.

(3) The Bank may require a financial institution to submit such further information and data relating to the statements and returns described in paragraph (2) of this Article and such further information and data shall be submitted within such period and in such manner as the bank may require.

(4) No statement, return, information or data shall be required under paragraph (1), (2) or (3) of this Article with respect to the affairs of any particular customer of a financial institution.

(5) All statements and returns submitted by a financial institution under paragraph (2) hereof and any data or information submitted by a financial institution under paragraph (1) or (2) hereof, shall be regarded by the Bank as secret; but the Bank may prepare and publish consolidated statements relating to the territories of the Participating Governments individually or collectively, aggregating the figures in the monthly or quarterly returns furnished under sub-paragraphs (sic) (a) and (b) of paragraph (2) of this Article.

(6) At the request of a participating Government, the Bank shall arrange for that Government to be supplied with a copy of any statement or return furnished by a financial institution under paragraph (2) in relation to its operation in the territory of that Government and all statements and returns so supplied shall be regarded by the Government as secret. Provided that the Bank may in writing extend the period for the furnishing of such statement and returns.

0.1.2 Data sharing and coordination among data producing agencies

ii. the BANKING ACT, provides for regulating banking business in the ECCB territories and includes paragraph 23, containing the following provisions:

(1) The central bank may from time to time call for any information which it may require for the purposes of this Act from any financial institution about its operations and those of its affiliates in St. Vincent and the Grenadines or from a local financial institution about its operations and those of its affiliates abroad; and,

(2) The central bank shall forward copies of balance sheets, statements and summaries of reports on the results of any inspection to the Minister and the financial institution.

Both Acts were passed by the individual parliaments and are available from the parliaments in the respective countries and from the ECCB. Abstracts of these documents are also available on the website of the ECCB.

0.1.3 Confidentiality of individual reporters' data

Each member of the staff of the ECCB is required to take an oath of secrecy.b. Identification of internal Government Access to Data Before Release

1.2.2 Internal governmental access to statistics prior to release

There is no obligation on the part of the ECCB to provide the data on financial institutions to the Government prior to the release to the public.

c. Identification of Ministerial Commentary on the Occasion of Statistical Releases

1.2.3 Attribution of statistical products

There is no ministerial commentary on the data disseminated by the ECCB.

d. Provision of Information about Revisions and Advance Notice of Major Changes in Methodology

1.2.4 Advance notice of major changes in methodology, source data, and statistical techniques.

Revisions in the methodology are usually provided in explanatory notes at the same time that the data are released in publications.

4.3.1 Revision schedule

4.3.2 Identification of preliminary and/or revised data

Data in the publications are clearly identified as being preliminary or having been revised.

III. Access to Data by the Public

a. Simultaneous Release to the Public

5.1.4 Simultaneous release

Data on central bank operations and consolidated balance sheet information on the operations of the commercial banks are released simultaneously in publications to the general public.

In the case of balance of payments statistics, a press release normally precedes the release of the publication.b. Advance Release Calendars

5.1.3 Advance release calendar

The ECCB publishes on its website the release dates and contents for its major publications. The dates are determined at the beginning of the financial year. Adjustments during the year are not disseminated publicly. In 1999 most of the publications were released within one month of the advertised date.